1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sensor for spatially resolved detection of IR radiation, and also relates to a method for the manufacture thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Published international patent application document WO 2007/147663 A1 describes a sensor of this kind having an array assemblage of diode pixels, each diode pixel having a monocrystalline region beneath a cantilevered diaphragm. A pn diode is implemented as a sensitive region in the monocrystalline region. Supply leads of the diodes to combined column and row terminals are provided in or beneath the diaphragm, so that simple addressing and reading of the diode pixels in an array is possible.
Contacting of the p-doped and n-doped regions of each diode pixel is accomplished via metallic supply leads that firstly contact highly doped regions in the monocrystalline regions beneath the diaphragm, by way of which the p- and n-doped regions of the diode are in turn contacted.
Multiple process steps are necessary for manufacture; in particular, firstly a lattice structure is generated, beneath which a region in an epitaxic layer (serving as a sacrificial layer) is porosified, whereupon in a subsequent tempering step, a cavity is implemented in the porosified region and the lattice structure is rearranged into the monocrystalline layer.
A diode array of this kind already makes possible high resolution, e.g. the high spatial resolution of an IR camera. Manufacture is, however, quite complex, especially including implementation of the cavity and of the monocrystalline region beneath the diaphragm.